After a couple of months of thinking, asking questions, making several mock up screens, we (my designer in chief) and I finally decided on a location for our screen. (I'm attaching a couple of pics from my previous thread to refresh memories, including mine!) We chose this area for several reasons: it is fairly well wind protected, there is no direct sunlight on the screen as the sun rises and sets to the south of us, the tree blocks the bulk of the view of the screen from the neighbor behind me. Something that makes the wife happy is that it is not "in your face" when you go out to the pool. Another factor is that neither of my projectors will shoot 30+ feet and project a good image (I know, I tried).

The details of the screen are:Screen size - 9' x 5' (more about that later). I recycled the the mount from my previous screen. 2" PVC sleeves set 2ft into the soil of the raised planter bed. I dry packed the sleeves as the ground here in Phoenix is like concrete to start with. The rest of the mount is 1 1/2" PVC. The mount is anchored to the block wall with 1 1/4" galvanized plates secured with Tapcon screws. The wood that is used for the cross bracing is 1 x 3 redwood painted black. All the joints (PVC & wood) are glued and screwed together with stainless steel screws. The screen frame in 1 1/2" PVC with 1 x 2 strips of redwood screwed to the back of it and three vertical supports to prevent bowing. All the joints and wood strips are glued and screwed as well. The whole assembly should withstand whatever desert storms throw at it. (yes, I know the right upper post is bowed a bit but it is structurally sound and won't be seen once the screen is on).

Screen material is a 9 x 5 piece of Spandex. I picked it up for nothing from a kitchen installation customer who tried to use it with a "Wonderwall" Projector and was convinced by a salesman at B--- --y that the issue was his screen, so he bought one from them. 3K later, (projector and screen as he found out the only Wonder in Wonderwall is "wonder why anyone buys them") he has a pretty nice theater in his family room. If the Spandex doesn't perform well, I'll go to Trapeze or Carl. We also realized that 80% of our BYT watching is my wife & I, and the other 20% is 10 people or less. That being the case, we don't need a huge screen. Tomorrow the screen gets attached to the frame. I may (ok, I will) fire up one of the projectors. I'll post a couple of screen shots from the experiment.

There is still a lot to do - speakers (going 5.1), permanent wiring (speakers and HDMI, fencing off the area around the bottom of the screen to keep the dogs away, etc. Thanks to everyone for all their input with this. It is truly appreciated.

That looks like a really solid frame, I like how you've painted the PVC pipe black and I'm looking forward to watching the progress of the build. If your wife wants to minimise neighbourly disruption would it be better to go with a BOC screen rather than trapeze or will the tree block most of it out.

I think the tree will block the bulk of the light. I've talked to Carl and the concern with BOC is exposure to the elements 24/7/365. The screen is going to be a permanent installation. I beefed up the frame just in case I go to a solid screen. I found some 1/8th inch aluminum panels here locally that have a matte white finish. I have enough framing to be able to install up to a1/2 inch backer, then the panels. The diving board is fun. Trying to teach the dogs to jump off of it. That will have to wait until next summer. Water is too cold now.

The bottom of the screen is 30 inches above the pool deck. During the "testing" phase, we used a 72" pull down screen suspended between 2 ladders and set the bottom of the screen at 24" above the deck. Using a Moviemate 60, that was too low. when we raised it to 30", it looked fine. I am in the R&D process of a frame that will let me hang my HD66 and "ceiling project". The frame & mount would stay outside and the projector would come in at the end of the evening.

i had taken my Carls screen down 2 weekends ago (fierce wind storm) and only yesterday afternoon did i take the screen back out. i had some mildew spots due to a neighbors stubborn fruit tree. i've found and sprayed a mildew cleaner and blocker that i heard about in this forum. scrubbed the heck outta the screen while my turkey was deep frying, and had a significant improvement in mildew removal. complete removal? no. but such a dramatic difference it looks like a new screen!

Nothing like a freshly cleaned screen to brighten up an image! Tronn - do you leave your screen out 24/7 (except in severe weather)? I've posted 3 screen shots from a test run I did tonight. The screen itself is Spandex. There was some light "bleed through" on the wall behind the screen that I could see when I looked back there but it didn't show up in some pictures I shot of the wall. These were taken while I was sitting where I will normally be while viewing. Screen height doesn't seem to be an issue. One thing I've noticed with the Spandex is the curved edges bother me. This screen only has 1 grommet on each side, 5 on top & bottom. 2 more grommets on each side would be better. I'm going to pick up some tarp clips tomorrow & use them on the sides to see if I like the look better. I designed a "cap" for the top of the screen to prevent "droppings" of any sort getting on it. I do work for a company that installs vinyl siding as well as kitchens and on of the siding guys is making the cap out of the "coil" material they use to wrap wood on facia boards when siding is installed. I'll post a drawing of it. As for the bleed through, I'm wondering if hanging a piece of material behind the screen would stop it and sharpen the image a bit more. I want to use the Spandex as long as I can while I work out all the issues before I buy the final screen.

Replaced the Spandex screen with a BOC screen from Carl yesterday and got the rock speakers set up and wires buried. I used low voltage light wire. Did a quick test run last night and I have to say, I'm glad I changed the screen. I'm throwing 2500 lumens at the screen and there was too much light bleeding through the Spandex. I'll keep it and build a rear projection screen "just in case I need one". I bought OSD Audio rock speakers from Amazon ($45) and using a really small, really cheap 20 watt amp, they sounded good. Plenty loud enough for all the neighbors to enjoy. Decided I'm going to use a small Onkyo 5.1 SoundCube for audio. I'm going to run 2 front and 2 rear speakers. I have a 3rd front wire in case I decide to go full blown 5.1. Dish receiver, Blu ray player, HDMI switch and SoundCube will all be kept inside my master bedroom (opens right out to the screen), all wiring will be in a waterproof box. All I will have to do is run out a HDMI cable (stored inside waterproof box when not in use) and an extension cord for a really fast setup and tear down. I'll post pics this weekend after all the wiring is complete.

didnt see a reply till now. yes, barring 25mph+ winds, the screen does stay up. we've had very drab days here in so cal lately. last weekend was rained out and have had heavy fog most of this week. i'll check the condition screen tomorrow as i do plan on having a regular friday and saturday night showing.

i need a kick in the pants to finally do my underground wiring! i'll set this weekend up as definite "i'll do it for sure" weekend. my hold-up was on how to get electricity out there, but i can at least do the speaker wiring. thanks for the butt kicking!

Made some progress this week. Got my new screen from Carl - it looks great. 2500 lumens of 720p look really, really good on it (pics soon!). You can see the OSD Audio Rock Speakers ($45.00 from Amazon). Made a cover for screen - 10' x 8' tarp attched to top of frame w/bungee balls (sides as well). Bottom has a piece of 1.5" PVC attached. When I want to use screen, remove side bungess, roll up tarp and secure to top of frame. In the event of rain, unroll, secure sides and screen is protected.Wires run from inside house through a waterproof box, under sidewalk to a junction box in flower bed. All the electronics are inside the house behind the wall where the waterproof box is. Box also holds a 35' HDMI cable. When its showtime, uncover screen, roll out HDMI, plug in 25' projector power cord, aim projector and enjoy. 15 minute setup time, 10 minute breakdown (15 if I recover screen). It's getting there.

I've seen your setup. It's way too cool. I wish I had a camp, a big screen like yours and a wife who would enjoy it out there. My wife is wonderful, but her idea of "roughing it" is straight coffee without the "caramel macchiado"! At least she's 100% behind this build. Next is to get the electronics put together and some type of heat for the viewing area. It does get cold here at night. Compared to where you are, cold is a relative term.